Red Ribbon Army
The Red Ribbon Army (レッドリボン軍, Reddo Ribon Gun), briefly renamed Black Ribbon Army when Staff Officer Black took over in the ''Dragon Ball'' anime, is a paramilitary crime organization in the ''Dragon Ball'' manga and anime. They are mentioned in Dragon Ball Z during the Android Saga, and make their final anime appearance in Dragon Ball GT. Story ''Dragon Ball'' Officially led by a diminutive Commander Red the goal of the Red Ribbon Army was to use any means necessary to obtain the Dragon Balls and wish for world takeover; yet Commander Red secretly planned his wish for him to be a taller person. Since he was a very short person, he despised being around those who were taller than him. When Staff Officer Black found out about Red's plan, as well as his willingness to destroy his own army to achieve this plan, he killed the commander and took control of the Red Ribbon Army and, in the anime, re-named the organization the Black Ribbon Army. The entire army was defeated when a young boy named Goku sought to stop the army's evil ways by infiltrating the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters, killing Black in the midst. Master Roshi mentioned in the Androids Saga that after its defeat, the Red Ribbon had been forgotten, except for a few people. Also noted, that during the Androids Saga and the Cell Saga, the people on Earth don't know that the Androids and Cell were created by Dr. Gero and are from the Red Ribbon Army, except for Goku and his friends. Movies The Red Ribbon Army are the main villains in the movie Dragon Ball: The Path to Power, which is a "remake" of the first Dragon Ball saga that places some of the established characters in new roles. In this movie, the Red Ribbon Army is on a quest to get the Dragon Balls so that they can ask the Eternal Dragon Shenron for world domination and Goku fights his way through the forces of the Red Ribbon Army. While the Red Ribbon Army in itself doesn't appear in Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure, General Blue and Major Metallitron appear in the movie as members of the Mifan Army. Also, some parts of the movie, most notably Tao's defeat and Bora's murder, were based off of similar incidents in the Red Ribbon Army Saga. ''Dr. Slump'' Remake The Red Ribbon Army appears in the remake of Dr. Slump in episodes 56-59. Murasaki is the first member shown, he was spying on Goku as he transformed back into his normal form after being a Great Ape. Murasaki ends up recruiting King Nikochan and his servant as members of the Red Ribbon Army to help him steal the Dragon Balls from Goku. They ended up disguising themselves as Doctors and have the kids strip down to their underwear and stand in the hall to wait for check ups. While Murasaki was giving the fake check ups The Nikos went into the classroom and stole the Dragon Balls. After they stole the Dragon Balls Murasaki got out of his disguise and ran away with the Nikos. Goku and Arale ran after them and ended up fighting all the Murasaki Brothers and won. King Nikochan and his servant then resign from there position in the Red Ribbon Army while Murasaki waits for General Blue to come. ''Dragon Ball GT'' In Dragon Ball GT, Dr. Gero meets Dr. Myuu in Hell. There they worked on a plan to create the ultimate android which could destroy Goku. They came up with a plan to combine both of their technologies and get a perfect android by fusing two Android 17s. They then created a dimensional hole to get both androids in the same place - Earth, by creating a dimensional hole enemies from the past escaped from Hell and some of them were members of the Red Ribbon Army which were: Android 19, Staff Officer Black, General Blue, Major Metallitron, Lieutenant Dark and Captain Yellow all of them were killed by Pan, except for Android 19 who was killed by Goten and Trunks. They are all defeated and are sent back to hell when Goku escapes from there and join up with Nappa and Pui Pui, and they want to fight Piccolo. Super 17 kills Dr. Gero and Dr. Myuu later on and is killed by Goku when he gets help from Android 18. ''Dragon Ball Online'' In the computer video game Dragon Ball Online, which takes place in Age 1000, the Red Pants Army takes the place of the Red Ribbon Army and are employed by the tyrannical Miira. The Red Pants Army's symbol is indentical to that of the Red Ribbon Army's, and like the latter, they are shown to recruit human and anthropomorphic lackeys. It is also revealed that Commander Red was revived as a Cyborg named Android 9, and is their presumed leader. Military Code The Red Ribbon Army has an extremely small tolerance for failure, with the penalty for failure usually amounting to execution. The range of executable failures usually ranges between failing a mission objective (such as retrieving a Dragon Ball) or for minor blunders/virtually impossible tasks to succeed in such as failing to dodge Commander Red's cat when he sics it on personnel to test their reflexes, to when soldiers sleep on the job or pick noses. A ranked member of the army can be allowed a chance to redeem himself if he fails, should he have an exceptional track record in the organization, such as General Blue's chance at redemption when he failed to retrieve the Dragon Balls from Goku despite his retrieving the Dragon Radar. But those chances are usually extremely rare, as evidenced by Commander Red's sentencing Colonel Silver to execution after the latter failed to retrieve the Dragon Ball from Goku, despite his earlier praising of Colonel Silver for his dodging his cat. According to General Blue (who is homosexual and a misogynist), the Red Ribbon Army does not allow women into the military, although there is actually female members, such as Colonel Violet, and although Commander Red once hired a female mercenary, Hasky. Members Notable members of the Red Ribbon Army It is noted that every single officer in the Red Ribbon Army are intentionally named after a certain color (with the exception of Dr. Gero, who was actually named after a number/mechanical part, and possibly Captain Dark, as his official name is apparently "Dock"). The standard attire that nearly every member wears is a red bandanna of sorts, obviously tied to the army's namesake, which is either tied around their arm or neck (similar to Android 17 in Dragon Ball Z). *Commander Red *Adjutant Black *General Blue *General White *General Copper *Captain Yellow *Colonel Violet *Colonel Silver *Captain Dark *Sergeant-Major Purple (Ninja Murasaki) *Murasaki Brothers *Sergeant Metallic (Major Metallitron) *Monster Buyon *Dr. Flappe *Dr. Gero Hired Help Hasky Master thief and explosions expert. She was hired by the Red Ribbon Army to assassinate Goku and steal the two Dragon Balls he currently had in his possession. She then posed as a fortune teller at Dream Land and asked to see his Dragon Balls, although her request backfired when the way she worded what she wanted to see resulted in Goku showing her his literal balls by dropping his pants. She then revealed her true colors and set up explosives to destroy Dream Land so she could escape with the Dragon Balls, although she was stopped by Goku due to her ticklishness. Mercenary Tao Mercenary Tao (a.k.a. Tao Pai Pai) is a deadly, ruthless assassin, who lives for money. His name roughly translates into 'Peach White White'. Tao is the younger brother of the Crane Hermit, with whom he shares the signature Dodon Ray attack. He is hired by Commander Red to eliminate Goku. The first time they fight Goku is defeated. But after Korin's training, Goku defeats Tao. Realizing he is defeated Tao surrenders and when he sees Goku let down his guard he tosses a grenade at Goku. Goku then quickly kicks the grenade back at him and it blows up Tao instead. He returns at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament as part cyborg (perhaps using primitive technology created by Dr. Gero that would eventually make the Androids), but is beaten again by Tien Shinhan. He returns in the Cell Games Saga as a bodyguard to Mr. Borbonne, a rich coward who intent on forcing people to build a Protective Dome against Cell, and later as a bodyguard to Vodka. Goku, in the midst of searching for one of the Dragon Balls, arrives at Vodka's fortress and after spending a day trying to figure out a puzzle concocted by Tao, retrieves the Dragon Ball and departs. Overwhelmed with fear after finally recognizing the then-Super Saiyan Goku, Tao flees. Mercenary Tao can't fly, but he does have a unique method of travel (or escape if he senses defeat like with Goku). Tao tears down a giant tree, throws it a far distance into the sky, and rides it off into the horizon. Although we never get to see the tree land, this is the last we see of him after the series. It should be noted that Mercenary Tao is not a member of the Red Ribbon Army, although he was a hired assassin for them. When Tao realizes his defeat at the hands of Son Goku, he deceives him by apologizing for his evil ways and saying he will surrender. Goku relaxes his guard, and this gives Tao enough time to toss a grenade at him and jump away into the sky. Goku notices the treachery and kicks the grenade back at Tao just in time for it to explode. Despite Tao's skills, when faced with someone stronger, it is seen how quickly one turns to lowly cheap tactics. While this adds to humor of the show and manga, it proves that he is a smart serious villain who can survive. The words "Kill You!" are seen on the back of his robe, which he cherishes greatly. The Androids Android 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 (who is technically a cyborg, as is #18, and #20), 18, 19, 20, Cell, Super 13, and Super 17 are all androids and cyborgs created by Dr. Gero, who later on becomes one himself (Android 20). Though only Android 8 is truly a member of the original Red Ribbon Army, all androids share the same objective: the destruction of Goku. Ironically, the exception is Android 8, whose programming was flawed and did not like to fight, who becomes friends with Goku. Bearing an "RR" (Red Ribbon) logo, Androids 16, 17, and 18 also reform in Dragon Ball Z. Androids 1-7 and 9-12 were never seen in the manga or anime, but mentioned briefly on one of the manga's title pages. Most likely, they were failed experiments, as implied in the Androids Saga when,, Dr. Gero, when asked by Trunks about his other 16 androids replies "They were all failures, a mistake I regret". 17 also remarks how Dr. Gero destroyed 1-15 in the FUNimation Dub. Trivia *It is likely that the Red Ribbon Army is known across the world, as when Goku tells a Penguin Village Police Officer to look out for a person named General Blue of the Red Ribbon Army, the Police Officer in question immediately ran away in fear upon hearing of the Red Ribbon Army. *Many members of the Red Ribbon Army have their designs and accents based on a certain race or country. Examples include Commander Red (Scottish), Staff Officer Black (African, or in the case of The Path to Power, Native American), General Blue (German), General White (Russian, or in the case of The Path to Power, Italian), Captain Yellow (Australian), Ninja Murasaki (Japanese), Colonel Silver (presumed American) and Major Metallitron (Austrian, or in the case of The Path to Power, African). Note: Some of these only apply to the FUNimation dub. Hasky has a British accent and Mercenary Tao also has a Chinese based design. *Despite sharing some traits with the Nazis, the Red Ribbon army does not appear to discriminate based on race (and in the case of Blue, sexual orientation). However, General Blue is apparently of German origin. *Although the Red Ribbon Army doesn't share any similarities (other than name) with the Soviet Army, General White is apparently of Russian origin. *The logo design for the Red Ribbon Army is possibly based on a Railroad Crossing Symbol/Sign. Gallery Category:Characters Category:Dragon Ball Category:Dragon Ball Z Category:Dragon Ball GT Category:Factions Category:Gun Users Category:Villains